# Force-feeding Myanmar? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [May 10, 2008, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/force-feeding-myanmar/448843 "2008-05-10T20:40:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2008, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/force-feeding-myanmar/448843/141 "2008-11-15T01:09:11Z")
Back to depressing: [Jailed Poet in Critical Condition Following Forcible Injection](http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/98451). Excerpts: "Reporters Without Borders and the Burma Media Association are appalled to learn that detained poet Aung Than, a member of the opposition National League for Democracy, was probably infected with the HIV virus when he was forcibly injected in Insein prison hospital in 2006. Several people, including the poet’s mother, have told the two organisations that he is now in a critical condition. “Forcible injections are common in Insein prison. A friend of a Burma Media Association member died of AIDS in prison after being injected by force.” ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2008, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/force-feeding-myanmar/448843/142 "2008-11-21T04:16:14Z")
[Hip-Hop Performer among Latest Victims of Court Crackdown](http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=14670) “One of the most popular performers on Burma’s music scene, hip-hop star Zayar Thaw, was sentenced to six years imprisonment by a Rangoon court on Thursday for his involvement in anti-regime protests.” And the list keeps growing. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2008, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/force-feeding-myanmar/448843/143 "2008-11-26T01:27:06Z")
And a new report points out that Burma’s HIV/AIDS crisis is deepening. See [here](http://edition.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/11/25/myanmar.hiv/index.html). “Almost 25,000 people will die this year of HIV/AIDS in Myanmar unless lifesaving treatment is significantly increased.” Fat chance of the latter happening! ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2008, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/force-feeding-myanmar/448843/144 "2008-12-03T02:05:00Z")
So now we have a Burmese comedian who dared to give interviews to foreign media and was sentenced to 45 years in prsion for that last week. Then, since he had dared to criticize his government’s response to the cycone, they added another 14 years for good measure, making his sentence **59 years** in all. Not sure, but I don’t think they have time off for good behavior in Burma. Story [here](http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/11/27/myanmar.dissident.ap/index.html). You just can’t let these funnymen run around loose, doncha know. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2008, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/force-feeding-myanmar/448843/145 "2008-12-03T02:14:11Z")
And of course, I actually do know how to spell “prison” and “cyclone.” ☹ ---
**Author:** ![E-Sabbath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19adc/32.png) [@E-Sabbath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-Sabbath)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2008, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/force-feeding-myanmar/448843/146 "2008-12-03T03:24:28Z")
Rest, dude. Let your arm heal. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2009, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/force-feeding-myanmar/448843/147 "2009-01-09T03:52:55Z")
And continuing on, [here](http://www.indopia.in/India-usa-uk-news/latest-news/470060/International/2/20/2) we see that foreign investment in Burma, despite international boycotts and trade sanctions, has nearly doubled in the first 10 months of last year. Thanks mainly to the Chinese. Squeezing the junta out is really difficult. ---
**Author:** ![smiling\_bandit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2009, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/force-feeding-myanmar/448843/148 "2009-01-09T19:07:53Z")
You don’t squeeze out dictatorships. You kill them. Frankly, in this crapsack world, I’d rather have the Joker on my side than Batman. The Joker might not like America, but he’d absolutely hate pathetic snots like these. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2009, 7:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/force-feeding-myanmar/448843/149 "2009-01-10T07:30:53Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > And of course, I actually do know how to spell “prison” and “cyclone.” ☹ That’s worth at least 10 years in prison. At some point the people will get tired of it and take action. Not holding my breath based on your description of the situation. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2009, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/force-feeding-myanmar/448843/150 "2009-01-16T04:11:32Z")
Wonderful. Thailand has been pushing Burmese boat refugees back out to see. Story [here](http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=14933). They’re being urged to stop, but I doubt they will. After all the trouble with the Cambodian refugees during the Khmer Rouge era and the Burmese refugees in the wake of the first uprising in August-September 1988, the issue of refugees is a very sour one for them. Thailand simply does not want any more of them. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2009, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/force-feeding-myanmar/448843/151 "2009-01-17T02:43:49Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > Wonderful. Thailand has been pushing Burmese boat refugees back out to see. Story [here](http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=14933). They’re being urged to stop, but I doubt they will. After all the trouble with the Cambodian refugees during the Khmer Rouge era and the Burmese refugees in the wake of the first uprising in August-September 1988, the issue of refugees is a very sour one for them. Thailand simply does not want any more of them. The Thai navy is denying it’s been pushing boat people back to sea. Story [here](http://www.nationmultimedia.com/breakingnews/30093444/Navy-denies-ill-treatment-of-Rohingya-migrants-from-Burma-and-Bangladesh). But I don’t believe them for a minute. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2009, 10:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/force-feeding-myanmar/448843/152 "2009-01-17T10:07:31Z")
Thought I’d throw [this report](http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=82372) into the mix. Addressing sexual violence in a 50,000-population Burmese refugee camp just inside Thailand. Rather interesting. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2009, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/force-feeding-myanmar/448843/153 "2009-01-20T04:31:34Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > The Thai navy is denying it’s been pushing boat people back to sea. Story [here](http://www.nationmultimedia.com/breakingnews/30093444/Navy-denies-ill-treatment-of-Rohingya-migrants-from-Burma-and-Bangladesh). But I don’t believe them for a minute. Well, no wonder they’re denying it. 500 of the boat people are missing and may very well have drowned! Story [here](http://www.nationmultimedia.com/search/read.php?newsid=30093634&keyword=rohingyas). They’re of the Rohingya ethnic minority in Burma, and the Thai authorities were supposedly afraid they would hook up with the insurgents in Thailand’s deep South. (We’ve had a violent Muslim insurgency raging there for a few years now.) ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2009, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/force-feeding-myanmar/448843/154 "2009-01-21T05:23:08Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > The Thai navy is denying it’s been pushing boat people back to sea. Story [here](http://www.nationmultimedia.com/breakingnews/30093444/Navy-denies-ill-treatment-of-Rohingya-migrants-from-Burma-and-Bangladesh). But I don’t believe them for a minute. > [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > Well, no wonder they’re denying it. 500 of the boat people are missing and may very well have drowned! Story [here](http://www.nationmultimedia.com/search/read.php?newsid=30093634&keyword=rohingyas). They’re of the Rohingya ethnic minority in Burma, and the Thai authorities were supposedly afraid they would hook up with the insurgents in Thailand’s deep South. (We’ve had a violent Muslim insurgency raging there for a few years now.) And a good follow-up is [here](http://www.irrawaddy.org/opinion_story.php?art_id=14951). ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2009, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/force-feeding-myanmar/448843/155 "2009-01-22T04:55:23Z")
And an update [here](http://nationmultimedia.com/2009/01/22/national/national_30093864.php). Gee, Thailand says it _really wants_ to help the UN investigate what’s happened to these refugees from Burma, but the UN can’t seem to formulate its request in a proper way. ??? And this: “Despite a meeting with security agencies yesterday, Foreign Ministry deputy spokesman Thani said they had ‘no clear information’ about the 126 Rohingya boat people in military custody. And the ‘status’ of Sai Daeng Island remained unclear as to whether it was a holding centre for illegal migrants, he said.” Hmmm. Do I detect a little stonewalling going on here? ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2009, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/force-feeding-myanmar/448843/156 "2009-01-22T17:57:05Z")
This is rather bizarre: [Nigeria’s Puzzling Gift to Burma](http://www.ngrguardiannews.com/editorial_opinion/article01/indexn2_html?pdate=220109&ptitle=Nigeria%27s%20puzzling%20gift%20to%20Myanmar). That giant of a philanthropic benefactor, Nigeria, slipped half a million US dollars to Burma at the UN late last month. Rather hurriedly and with few witnesses. Supposedly for hurricane relief … 7-1/2 months after the fact?? All very odd. ---
**Author:** ![E-Sabbath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19adc/32.png) [@E-Sabbath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-Sabbath)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2009, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/force-feeding-myanmar/448843/157 "2009-01-22T18:09:46Z")
Makes sense to me. Guns or ammo. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2009, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/force-feeding-myanmar/448843/158 "2009-01-23T04:16:44Z")
But then why the nature of the handover of the gift? Almost but not quite completely secret, and at UN headquarters? Something really strange here. They could have done this much more straightforwardly and without attracting attention. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2009, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/force-feeding-myanmar/448843/159 "2009-01-23T17:54:41Z")
Those Rohingya refugees from Burma are garnering a lot of international attention, which I think is great. Serves the Thai authorities right. The _International Herald Tribune_ has this piece: [Fears for 126 Rohingya Rise as Thais Deny Holding Them](http://www.iht.com/articles/reuters/2009/01/23/asia/OUKWD-UK-THAILAND-REFUGEES.php). And _The Economist_ has a good background piece on the Rohingya themselve: [Myanmar’s Unwanted Human Flotsam](http://www.economist.com/world/asia/displaystory.cfm?story_id=12992585). Meanwhile, a good piece on how the soaring kyat is slowwing remittances from abroad is [here](http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=14986). The kyat is the unit of currency, pronounced “chaht.” Like “chart” without the R. (In Burmese transliteration, syllables that start with “ky,” it’s pronounced “ch.”) ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2009, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/force-feeding-myanmar/448843/160 "2009-01-26T05:32:31Z")
And a CNN exclusive on the fate of those refugees is [here](http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/asiapcf/01/25/thailand.refugees/index.html). Some other interesting info on this episode is [here](http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2009/1/25/worldupdates/2009-01-25T130256Z_01_NOOTR_RTRMDNC_0_-376456-1&sec=Worldupdates). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/force-feeding-myanmar/448843.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/force-feeding-myanmar/448843.md?page=9)